Liquid gravity separation of solids.



P. I; DU PONT.

LIQUID GRAVITY SEPARATION 0F SOLIDS. APPLICATION FILED `111x111, 1909.BENEWED MAB. 1, 1911.

1,004,815.v Patented Oct. l3, 1911.

IN VE N TOR MLM.

I?. L-DU PONT. LIQUID GRAVITY SEPARATION 0B soLIDs. APPLICATION FILEDDEO. 1, 1909,.- RENEW-ED MAB. l, 1911.

Patented 06h13, 1911.

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l mvsw A-ron A rroRNEv WITNESSES F. I.- DU PONT. LIQUID GRAVITYSEPARATION 0F SOLIDS.

APPLICATION FILED DBO. 1, 1909. EBNBWED MAB. 1, 1911.

1,004,815. Patented Oct. 3, 1911.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

wlTfvEssEs Q) iwff/f BY www1 .I l v ArroRn/EYS UNITED STATES oFFgCFjSpecification of Letters Patent.

Application Med December 1, 1009, Serial No. 530,764. Renewed Hatch 1,19,11. Serial N0. 811,556:-

To all whom it may concern:

Be' it known that I,.FRANo1s I. DUPONT, a citizen of the United States,residing at Wilmington, county of Newcastle, and State .of Delaware,have invented a new and useful Improy'ement in Liquid Gravity Sepa-'ration of Solids, of which the 'following is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

In certain applications filed by. me December ist., 1909, serial Nos.530,761, 530,762, 530,763 for the recovery by volatilization of theliquid carried o' attached to the solids, after the separation withcertain of these liquids there is a tendency in the volatilization toproduce decomposition when the same is being driven off and leaving asmall residuum in the ore, which might cause an appreciable loss oftheoriginal liquid as it then cannot be carried back to the separatingvessel. As an example of this, taking antimonychlorid, I have found whenbeing volatilized it will leave a small residuum left in the ore.

residuum of antimony oxid or oxychlorid in the ore, which might cause anappreciable loss of antimony, thus materially adding to the expense ofthe rocess.

I have diseovere that I can prevent oxid or oxychlorid of the base ofthe salt used from being formed or remaining by adding a halid ofammonia, for instance, ammo nia chlorid. The halids of ammonia, being ofa slightly highervolatilizing point than such liquidsas produce suchoxid or oxychlorid, Will remain behind and the halid will react with anyoxid or oxychlorid forming or tending to form,- causing such oxid oroxychlorid to be volatilized, and it thus can be recovered and carriedback to the separating system Without difficulty. The base of the oxidor oxychlorid depends upon the salt used, thus, if, as stated in theexample, antimony chlorid be used the base of the oxid or oxychloridwill be antimony.

As I have stated, I prefer to add the halid of ammonia in the separatingtank and preferably it should be about 1 or 2 per cent. of theseparating liquid. It might be well to add this halid of ammonia to allof the separating liquids mentioned in. my applications hereinbeforerecited for the reason that its condition can do no harm and it makescertain the prevention of any -In general, the process, as shown in myapplication filed December 1, 1909,` Serial No. 580,7 59, consists inseparating the solids by means of a liqilid -iii a separating tank,carrying the solids away from the liquid and recverin yby'volatilization the liquid carried by sue solids. The apparatusillustrated and described -in that application, filed December lst,1909, Serial No. 530,7 59, and Whlch apparatus lis described,illustrated and claimed in a division of that application, tiled January25th, 1910, Serialv No. 539,960, may be used to carry out the process ofthis invention.

In that apparatus-Figure 1 is an elevaff tion of my apparatus partiallybroken away. Y Fig.V 2 is a longitudinal section through separat-indrum. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section t rough one end of apparatus.Figs. 4, 5 and '6 are sections respectively on the linesf-A, 5-5 and 6-6of Fig. 2. `Fig. 7 is a partial View showing modification of lefthandconical end, of Fig. 2.

a is a cylindrical vessel having the conical extensions b and c.

al is the inlet tube through which the ore to be separated passes intothe 'cylinder a. In the interior of this tube is the conveyer e forcarrying the ore through the tube.

f is the receiving hopper opening into the tube d. Y

g is a pipe extending from the tube d and connected with thesuctionydevice h to prevent any air entering thecylinder with the ore. Theinterior of the cylinder has the projecting spiral blade z' whichprojects from the inner periphery of the cylinder.

j representsthe liquid level. Where the ore to be separated is, ashereinbetore stated, limonite, and the liquid stannic chlorid, suchliquid is of greater Vspecific gravity than water and of less specificgravity than some of the ingredients of the ore. The end of the kshaftcarrying the conveyer e has the gear le which is rotated by` appropriatemeans, not shown.

The cylinder a and its extensions are supported on the rollers l, andthese rollers are rotated by means of the gearing m. In the conical endb is the peripheral sectional projecting spiral4A blade n, the sectionsbeing blades t. These cy indrical portions termi- Patemea oet. s, 1911.

nate in the hoppers u and .fv respectively. The cylindrical port-ions 7'and 8 each ex'tend through a furnace in which the llquld 1s driven ottnin the form of vapor. Each of the hoppers u and 'v has a slide operatedby the lever f for closing the discharge end of the hopper andpreventing the ingress of air. The exterior of the cylinder a has watersprayed upon it from the sprayer 2, fed by the pipe 3.

In order to determine the level -of the liquid in the cylinder andmaintain its level constant, I use the following construction: 4 is apipe which passes centrally through the conical end b and itscylindricalextension and terminates in the reservoir 5, which is non-rotatablymounted. Surrounding the pipe 4 is a sheet metal pipe 20, having an openend in cylinder a. The gas from the interior of cylinder a passes intothe space between the two pipes 20 and 4. a: is a pipe leading from pipe2O to condenser y. On this pipe is the suction fany a. From the top ofthe condenser y, pipes 11 leadv to the respective hoppers u and c. Bythis arrangement the space between the pipes 2() and 4 ismaintained4cool,\thus maintaining i 'theliquid in pipe 4 as a liquid. The-innerend o pipe 4 terminates in the reservoir 6. From thisv reservoir 6extend the curved ended pipes 7 the mouths of which are at the desiredlevel of the liquid in the cylinder. Extending through the pipe 4 is asmaller pipe 8, the. inner endof which passes through reservoir 6 andopens into cylinder a, the outer end terminating in the pipe 9, `havingcurved ends, in the reservoir 5. A pipe 25 leads from the lower end'ofcondenser y to the reservoir 5. When the cylinder a, its conical ends,and extensions are revolved and the material fed therein, and liquidbeing in the cylinder to the level shown, there 1s a circulation of theliquid as shown by the arrows. The lighter lngredients are carried tothe conical end c and the heavier tothe conical end b, the heavier andlighter ingredients separating during this travel. In the conical end bthe blades carry the heavier ingredient forward and upward, and due tothe staggering of the blades, the liquid runs off so that when thecylindrical extension is reached, it is free from all but the adheringliquid. Further movement in the cylindrlcal extension carries it throughthe evaporator, the fumes passing back to cylinder a where they arecondensed by the spray. In a similar manner when the lighter ingredientsare carried to the conical end c, the blades, as it were, skim-ofi' thesolids, the liquid escaping throughthe orifices. If desired, as shown inFig. 7 onl the rst few turns of the spiral may be per orated, as thismay be sufficient to carry ofi' practically all the liquid and theremainder of the spiral may be staggered, as shown with respect to thespiral in end b, Fig. 2. This material in i this cylindrical extenslon,as was done with respect to the heavier ingredient, passes through theevaporator, the gases returning to the cylinder a where they arecondensed.

If the liquid tends to rise in the cylinder beyond its desiredheight,the pipe 7 will constantly deliver liquid from reservoir 5 to thecylinder, but, being smaller, always in less quantity than it would bedelivered from the cylinder a to the reservoir 5, if a should contain anexcess. This, with the lliquid passing through the pipes between thecondenser and reservoir 5, enables the level of Ithe liquid. in thecylinder to be maintained.

The purpose of the system of piping, fan

and condenser a and y is to insure denitely that the flow of vapor shallbe from the evaporators to the central cylinder which lis cooled; alsoto condense any excess of va ors which may not becondensed in the cyinder a. The purpose of the return pipes 11, is to avoid the necessityfor the entrance of any more atmospheric air than is absolutelyunavoidable, using in place thereof air always charged with whateveramount of vapors it will contain, after having passed through thecondenser, this therefore, produces a substant-ially Iclosed system inwhich no vapors or substantially no vapors arel carried 0E by anyenteringor escaping air. The purpose of the fan h and pipe g is todetermlne suiicient suction in the pipe e to to carry air into thecylinder a.

Having now fully described my invention, l

what I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is i 1. The processof liquid separation of solids, which consists in separating the solidsin a liquid which is the halid of a metal, whose halidsarevolatilizable, conveying the separated ingredients produced by theseparation from the liquid and subjecting the same to a heat sufficientto volatilize, and adding yto the liquid a halid of ammonia prior tosaid volatilization.

2. "The process of liquid separation of solids, which consists inseparating the solids in a liquid which is they halid of a metal, Whosehalids are volatilizable, conveying the separated ingredients producedby the separation from the liquid and subjecting the same to a heatsuilicient to volatilize, and adding to the liquid at they point ofseparation a halid-of ammonia.

3. The process of liquid separation ofmetal, whose halids arevolatilizable, conveying the separated ingredients produced Y by theseparation from the li uid and subin a liquid which is the halid of ametal,

Whose halids are volatilizable, conveying the separated ingredientsproduced by/the separation from the liquid and subjecting the same to 'aheat sulicient to volatilize, and adding to the liquid at .the point ofseparation from 1 to 2 per cent. of a halid of ammonia.

5. In the process of liquid separation of solids, separating the solidconstituents in a liquid comprising a halid of a metal, Whose halids arevolatilizable, and a h alid of ammonia.

6. In the process of liquid separation of solids, separating the solidconstituents in a liquid comprising a halid of a metal, whose halids arevolatilizable, and from 1 to 2 per cent. of a halid of ammonia.

In testimony of which invention, I have hereuntoset my hand, atPhiladelphia, on this 26th day fNovember, 1909.

FRANCIS I DU PONT.

Witnesses:

M. M. HAMILTON,

A. M. URIAN.

